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Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Shays: Partisan "when it counts"

There's a little game that some crafty politicians play.

It's called "Looking Like a Good Guy".

You play it by finding bills that are likely to be overwhelmingly won or lost. It doesn't matter which. Then you vote with the other party with your largely meaningless vote, because the bill didn't need your vote to pass, or it would have lost regardless.

Then, when you campaign in your largely Democratic district, you can show those meaningless votes as proof you "step across party lines" to work with the other party.

Here's the critical part: you need to vote with your party on the close votes nearly ALL of the time. Because if you betray your party when they really need your help, you won't get their help (and money) when you run for reelection. So you stick with your party with a nearly perfect voting record when it's close.

If you play the game well, you can have it "both ways".

And when it comes to playing this game, "Both Ways" Shays is approaching "Grand Master" status.

On the closest votes—when his vote has the most power to affect the outcome, when the Republican Party most needs his support, and when 4th District residents most need him to make the right choice—Shays has lined up behind his Party’s leadership 89% of the time, or nine out of ten times.

This finding—based on analysis of the 1,752 votes cast in the 110th Congress—shows that Shays is not “purple” as he claims, but is, in fact, a true Republican partisan. Real political courage doesn’t mean crossing the aisle when it’s safe and easy; it means exercising independent judgment on the close votes where your decision can really make a difference.

Let's remember that there is one candidate who won't play games. His name is Jim Himes, and he's running for Congress in the 4th CD.

9 comments:

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I managed to read the deleted message this morning...I almost asked if you had an asshole magnet surreptitiously attached to your blog... the first two are strange, too (almost like Nigerian scams; but I've no time to check their spots).

On the presidential ballots: only (a) non-registered town residents, and (b) FORMER town residents can cast Presidential ballots in a town. So far, the only proof for former residents we have is prior voter registration. current non-registered voters can show Photo ID, or a current utility bill (w/town address) to vote. Registered voters MUST vote at their poll.

BUT...there is no system for BOB ADAMS to vote in Milford, then show up in West Haven (if he was ever registered there) and double-dipping for President. Get my point?

LOL! Rest assured, BOB ADAMS is going to cast one vote, and one vote only!

But I get what you're saying. The big drawback on this kind of voting scam is that 1) you need to be the guy committing the fraud, thereby making yourself party to a crime and being legally liable; and 2) it only works once in each town; and 3) it's a lot of effort for minimal votes.

The GOPers have a more efficient way to skew elections: they hack the voting machines; they intimidate and disenfranchise legal voters; and they get the Supreme Court to rule in their favor.

You gotta give 'em credit. When it comes to defeating Democracy, you'll never do better than the Grand Old Party!

Congress may have to revisit HAVA and change some requirements, like making it mandatory to use paper ballots for voting. It's the only way to eliminate those unstable ATM-style machines. It won't solve all the problems, but it's a step in the right direction.